drum
    n 1: a musical percussion instrument; usually consists of a
         hollow cylinder with a membrane stretched across each end
         [syn: drum, membranophone, tympan]
    2: the sound of a drum; "he could hear the drums before he heard
       the fifes"
    3: a bulging cylindrical shape; hollow with flat ends [syn:
       barrel, drum]
    4: a cylindrical metal container used for shipping or storage of
       liquids [syn: drum, metal drum]
    5: a hollow cast-iron cylinder attached to the wheel that forms
       part of the brakes [syn: brake drum, drum]
    6: small to medium-sized bottom-dwelling food and game fishes of
       shallow coastal and fresh waters that make a drumming noise
       [syn: drum, drumfish]
    v 1: make a rhythmic sound; "Rain drummed against the
         windshield"; "The drums beat all night" [syn: drum,
         beat, thrum]
    2: play a percussion instrument
    3: study intensively, as before an exam; "I had to bone up on my
       Latin verbs before the final exam" [syn: cram, grind
       away, drum, bone up, swot, get up, mug up, swot
       up, bone]

Sciaenoid \Sci*ae"noid\, a. [L. sciaena a kind of fish (fr. Gr.
   ?) + -oid.] (Zool.)
   Of or pertaining to the Sciaenidae, a family of carnivorous
   marine fishes which includes the meagre (Sciaena umbra or
   Sciaena aquila), and fish of the drum and croaker
   families. The croaker is so called because it may make a
   croaking noise by use of its bladder; the Atlantic croaker
   (Micropogonias undulatus, formerly Micropogon undulatus)
   and the squeteague are a members of the croaker family, and
   the kingfish is a drum.
   [1913 Webster +PJC]

Swag \Swag\, n.
   1. A swaying, irregular motion.
      [1913 Webster]

   2. A burglar's or thief's booty; boodle. [Cant or Slang]
      --Charles Reade.
      [1913 Webster]

   3. [Australia]
      (a) A tramping bushman's luggage, rolled up either in
          canvas or in a blanket so as to form a long bundle,
          and carried on the back or over the shoulder; --
          called also a bluey, or a drum.
      (b) Any bundle of luggage similarly rolled up; hence,
          luggage in general.

                He tramped for years till the swag he bore
                seemed part of himself.           --Lawson.
          [Webster 1913 Suppl.]

Vase \Vase\ (v[=a]s or v[aum]z; 277), n. [F. vase; cf. Sp. & It.
   vaso; fr. L. vas, vasum. Cf. Vascular, Vessel.]
   1. A vessel adapted for various domestic purposes, and
      anciently for sacrificial uses; especially, a vessel of
      antique or elegant pattern used for ornament; as, a
      porcelain vase; a gold vase; a Grecian vase. See Illust.
      of Portland vase, under Portland.
      [1913 Webster]

            No chargers then were wrought in burnished gold,
            Nor silver vases took the forming mold. --Pope.
      [1913 Webster]

   2. (Arch.)
      (a) A vessel similar to that described in the first
          definition above, or the representation of one in a
          solid block of stone, or the like, used for an
          ornament, as on a terrace or in a garden. See Illust.
          of Niche.
      (b) The body, or naked ground, of the Corinthian and
          Composite capital; -- called also tambour, and
          drum.
          [1913 Webster]

   Note: Until the time of Walker (1791), vase was made to rhyme
         with base, case, etc., and it is still commonly so
         pronounced in the United States. Walker made it to
         rhyme with phrase, maze, etc. Of modern English
         practice, Mr. A. J. Ellis (1874) says: "Vase has four
         pronunciations in English: v[add]z, which I most
         commonly say, is going out of use, v[aum]z I hear most
         frequently, v[=a]z very rarely, and v[=a]s I only know
         from Cull's marking. On the analogy of case, however,
         it should be the regular sound."
         The Merriam-Webster's 10th Colletgiate Dictionary says:
         "U. S. oftenest v[=a]s; Canada usu. and U. S. also
         v[=a]z; Canada also & U. S. sometimes v[aum]z."
         One wit has noted that "a v[aum]z is a v[=a]z that
         costs more than $100.", suggesting that the former is
         considered a higher-class pronunciation.
         [1913 Webster + PJC]

   3. (Bot.) The calyx of a plant.
      [1913 Webster]

Croaker \Croak"er\ (-?r), n.
   1. One who croaks, murmurs, grumbles, or complains
      unreasonably; one who habitually forebodes evil.
      [1913 Webster]

   2. (Zool.)
      (a) A small American fish (Micropogon undulatus), of the
          Atlantic coast.
      (a) An American fresh-water fish (Aplodinotus
          grunniens); -- called also drum.
      (c) The surf fish of California.
          [1913 Webster]

   Note: When caught these fishes make a croaking sound; whence
         the name, which is often corrupted into crocus.

Drum \Drum\, v. t.
   1. To execute on a drum, as a tune.
      [1913 Webster]

   2. (With out) To expel ignominiously, with beat of drum; as,
      to drum out a deserter or rogue from a camp, etc.
      [1913 Webster]

   3. (With up) To assemble by, or as by, beat of drum; to
      collect; to gather or draw by solicitation; as, to drum up
      recruits; to drum up customers.
      [1913 Webster]

Drum \Drum\, n. [Cf. D. trom, trommel, LG. trumme, G. trommel,
   Dan. tromme, Sw. trumma, OHG. trumba a trumpet, Icel. pruma a
   clap of thunder, and as a verb, to thunder, Dan. drum a
   booming sound, drumme to boom; prob. partly at least of
   imitative origin; perh. akin to E. trum, or trumpet.]
   1. (Mus.) An instrument of percussion, consisting either of a
      hollow cylinder, over each end of which is stretched a
      piece of skin or vellum, to be beaten with a stick; or of
      a metallic hemisphere (kettledrum) with a single piece of
      skin to be so beaten; the common instrument for marking
      time in martial music; one of the pair of tympani in an
      orchestra, or cavalry band.
      [1913 Webster]

            The drums cry bud-a-dub.              --Gascoigne.
      [1913 Webster]

   2. Anything resembling a drum in form; as:
      (a) A sheet iron radiator, often in the shape of a drum,
          for warming an apartment by means of heat received
          from a stovepipe, or a cylindrical receiver for steam,
          etc.
      (b) A small cylindrical box in which figs, etc., are
          packed.
      (c) (Anat.) The tympanum of the ear; -- often, but
          incorrectly, applied to the tympanic membrane.
      (d) (Arch.) One of the cylindrical, or nearly cylindrical,
          blocks, of which the shaft of a column is composed;
          also, a vertical wall, whether circular or polygonal
          in plan, carrying a cupola or dome.
      (e) (Mach.) A cylinder on a revolving shaft, generally for
          the purpose of driving several pulleys, by means of
          belts or straps passing around its periphery; also,
          the barrel of a hoisting machine, on which the rope or
          chain is wound.
          [1913 Webster]

   3. (Zool.) See Drumfish.
      [1913 Webster]

   4. A noisy, tumultuous assembly of fashionable people at a
      private house; a rout. [Archaic]
      [1913 Webster]

            Not unaptly styled a drum, from the noise and
            emptiness of the entertainment.       --Smollett.
      [1913 Webster]

   Note: There were also drum major, rout, tempest, and
         hurricane, differing only in degrees of multitude and
         uproar, as the significant name of each declares.
         [1913 Webster]

   5. A tea party; a kettledrum. --G. Eliot.
      [1913 Webster]

   Bass drum. See in the Vocabulary.

   Double drum. See under Double.
      [1913 Webster]

Drum \Drum\, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Drummed; p. pr. & vb. n.
   Drumming.]
   1. To beat a drum with sticks; to beat or play a tune on a
      drum.
      [1913 Webster]

   2. To beat with the fingers, as with drumsticks; to beat with
      a rapid succession of strokes; to make a noise like that
      of a beaten drum; as, the ruffed grouse drums with his
      wings.
      [1913 Webster]

            Drumming with his fingers on the arm of his chair.
                                                  --W. Irving.
      [1913 Webster]

   3. To throb, as the heart. [R.] --Dryden.
      [1913 Webster]

   4. To go about, as a drummer does, to gather recruits, to
      draw or secure partisans, customers, etc,; -- with for.
      [1913 Webster]

Drumfish \Drum"fish`\, n. (Zool.)
   Any fish of the family Sci[ae]nid[ae], which makes a loud
   noise by means of its air bladder; -- called also drum.
   [1913 Webster]

   Note: The common drumfish (Pogonias chromis) is a large
         species, common south of New Jersey. The southern red
         drum or red horse (Sci[ae]na ocellata), and the
         fresh-water drum or croaker (Aplodionotus grunniens),
         are related species.
         [1913 Webster]

drum
 n.

    Ancient techspeak term referring to slow, cylindrical magnetic media that
    were once state-of-the-art storage devices. Under some versions of BSD Unix
    the disk partition used for swapping is still called /dev/drum; this has
    led to considerable humor and not a few straight-faced but utterly bogus
    ?explanations? getting foisted on newbies. See also ? The Story of Mel'?
    in Appendix A.

drum

   Ancient slow, cylindrical magnetic media that were once
   state-of-the-art storage devices.  Under BSD Unix the disk
   partition used for swapping is still called "/dev/drum"; this
   has led to considerable humour and not a few straight-faced
   but utterly bogus "explanations" getting foisted on newbies.

   See also "The Story of Mel".

   (1994-12-22)